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at Fort Wayne and took his fiancee [[fiancée]], Miss Aimee Cour and, and his father for rides. This event was quickly followed by what was probably the first aerial elopment [[elopement]] in history when on October 25th, to evade her parents objections to his flying, Smith and Miss Cour flew to Hillsdale, Michigan, to be married. On arriving there, awkward with cold, Smith made a poor landing and turned turtle, throwing them out. They were both badly shaken, but not seriously injured, and were taken to a hotel where they were married at once. On November 14th Smith was given a medal for his aviation accomplishments by the admiring fellow townspeople of Fort Wayne.

His old plane had been quite badly wrecked at Hillsdale so during the winter of 1912-1913 Smith built a new one. In the spring of 1913 he joined the Kirkham Engine Company, Savona, New York, as copilot and instructor, as Kirkham was building planes and proposed to start a flying school. This venture was not successful but while there Smith flew his tests for a pilot license, using his Curtiss-type biplane with a Kirkham engine, and was granted Certificate No. 238 on June 25, 1913.

After leaving Kirkham, Smith went back to exhibition flying, using the new Kirkham-powered headless Curtiss-type pusher biplane he had built that winter. With his wife, he made an extensive exhibition tour of the central states that year. On July 5th to 7th he flew at Lawton, Oklahoma; on July 31st at Hartford, Arkansas; during August in Illinois, the las week in Kankakee. On September 6th he flew to Toledo, Ohio, making a fine flight over the city. September 17th and 18th he was at Norden, Nebraska, and September 23rd to 25th at Edgemont, South Dakota. October 2nd to 4th he flew at Carthage, Illinois, and there Aimee made a flight with him again. October 14th to 18th he was at Camden, Arkansas, then on October 28th to November 1st at the Lawrence County Fair, Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. He completed the season's tour at Durant, Oklahoma, November 12th to 14th, making a total of fifty-nine flights, with nine hours, and fifty-six minutes flying time without a single accident.